Local Capacity Building

We have entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Singapore National Eye Centre (SNEC), which is internationally recognized as a world leader in ophthalmic professional education. Based on this partnership, SNEC has developed innovative merged online-offline hybrid educational programs. These programs are primarily designed to enhance the skills of non-physician healthcare professionals so that some medical practices can be appropriately delegated to them, thereby ensuring more efficient use of limited medical human resources and improving access to ophthalmic care in Southeast Asia.

As our first initiative under this strategic partnership, we have started to establish a training center at Vietnam National Eye Hospital (VNEH), a central hospital under the umbrella of the Vietnamese Ministry of Health, which is positioned as a clinical training facility for Hanoi Medical University. Specifically, in June 2022, SNEC, with support from Santen, provided a train-the-trainer program to VNEH, which thereby developed 10 master trainers (five ophthalmologists and five ophthalmic nurses). In addition, an educational program in Vietnamese was developed based on regional needs, and SNEC and VNEH also conducted a pilot program from August to October 2022. As a result of these efforts, 23 ophthalmic nurses in VNEH have been trained with SNEC’s educational programs, confirming their concept and value in the Vietnamese healthcare context. The first full program was conducted from September to December 2023, and 40 ophthalmic nurses from all over Vietnam participated.

This program is in progress of expansion to other regions. In Indonesia, we have established a partnership with Dr. Cipto Mangunkusumo National Central Public Hospital (RSCM), a hospital affiliated with the University of Indonesia, and Indonesian Clinical Training and Education Center (ICTEC). Train-the-trainer program and educational program have been localized. The first full program was launched from November to December in 2023, and 9 trainees participated from all over Indonesia.

The Company had continually made donations since 2012 to support "Teaching the Teachers," a training program focused on educating the educators of ophthalmologists. This program is presented by the ICO Foundation, the largest ophthalmic foundation in the world, with the aim of eliminating the shortage of ophthalmologists in developing countries.

In 2020, the Company entered into a four-year partnership agreement with the International Telecommunication Union (Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland, hereinafter ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for information and communication technologies, to support "Be He@lthy, Be Mobile" (hereinafter BHBM) in ophthalmology, an initiative of ITU and the World Health Organization (Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland).

BHBM is a digital health initiative between the WHO and ITU in support of the WHO's expansion of services in non-communicable diseases. This initiative is designed to raise awareness of the prevention and management of non-communicable diseases through the use of mobile phones and digital devices in order to realize healthy lifestyles. It is estimated that almost the entire world population (97％) lives within reach of a mobile cellular signal, and today its service is expanding digital health services and geographic reach, including the distribution of health information and content to end users through SMS (short message service) and digital device apps. Millions of people have already been reached through the programs and evaluation shows that they are impacting positively on users' health.

As part of this effort, a toolkit on how to implement MyopiaEd was launched in March 2022. The toolkit includes guidance and resources for adapting, implementing, and monitoring educational campaigns on myopia aiming to raise awareness of the disease and promote good eye care behaviors.

Santen is supporting on-line educational program for trainee and practicing ophthalmologists in the uveitis field especially in Asia through donation to L V Prasad Eye Institute which is managed by Hyderabad Eye Institute in India. The first-year educational program was started in July 2021 and included the following activities:

During the first-year program, nearly 140 ophthalmologists, including 35 from outside India, have been continuously engaged in this training activity. Below are some of the feedbacks from the trainees.

Santen's Nara Research and Development Center operates the Functional Polymer Science Laboratory established in 2005 in collaboration with Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST). Serving as visiting professors, associate professors and collaborative research staff members, Santen's employees familiar with this field of specialty teach students who aim to become researchers. So far, this laboratory has produced 15 master's degree graduates and two PhD degree graduates

The Company has made great efforts to help the development of the ophthalmology industry in China. As early as 1966, we established Santen Scholarship to cultivate more Chinese ophthalmology talents and improve the specialized level of ophthalmology doctors. Over the years, Santen Scholarship has provided a variety of academic support programs, which benefit generations of ophthalmology HCPs. The total amount of Santen Scholarship has reached over 21 million RMB by the end of 2020.

In addition, Santen has recently worked with Beijing Bethune Charitable Foundation to promote the standardization of glaucoma diagnosis and treatment in China through the "Glaucoma Standardization Center Construction Project". This not only benefits the majority of glaucoma patients, but also improves the level of diagnosis and treatment in China.